Vasaraudzis wins in MML Sports' Lancer WRCar

Latvian driver Ivars Vasaraudzis claimed another event victory last weekend, when he won the Kerzume Rally, the penultimate round of the Latvian Rally Championship, at the wheel of an MML Sports-run Mitsubishi Lancer World Rally Car. Ivars was standing-in for regular driver Raimonds Kisiels and won six of the ten stages and was second-fastest on the rest, to reach the finish with a healthy margin of 36 seconds.

Vasaraudzis and co-driver Peteris Spredzis are no strangers to either rallying or the MML Sports-run Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05 World Rally Car; they won the Talsi Rally in May using the same car and therefore, were favourites for this event. There was more competition this weekend though, since Georg Gross, a protégé of former World Rally Champion works driver Markko Martin was also competing on the event, in a Ford Focus World Rally Car.

The scene was set for a first-class fight from the first pair of superspecial stages. Vasaraudzis and Gross took a stage win each on Saturday evening, their times separated by fractions of a second. Vasaraudzis and Spredzis went on to take a further five fastest stage times on the Sunday, dropping 11 seconds on the penultimate stage to Gross as they suffered a puncture and dropping a further two seconds on the last test of the event.

However, despite this, they reached the finish of the event with a convincing win, more than 36 seconds ahead of Gross after the ten stages.

Commenting on the weekend, MML Sports Managing Director John Easton said: “Of course, we are delighted that Ivars and Peteris were able to demonstrate their competitiveness and determination this weekend. We know that they are quick and consistent, as we saw on the Talsi Rally in May and this weekend’s result is nothing less than what we hoped for.

“They clearly have a taste for the MML Sports Lancer WRCar, as they will also be competing on the final round of the national championship, Rally Latvia, in October, alongside Raimonds. We will have at least two Mitsubishi Lancer World Rally Cars out on that event, so while that will be a busy weekend for us, it will also be a fantastic spectacle for rally fans in Latvia.”

MML Sports’ next outing in Latvia will be Rally Latvia, over the weekend of 3 and 4 October.